Trip 46

April 29, 2024

We took the Tube out of central London to a suburb called Hampstead; it was about a 25 minute Tube ride. Walking along the high street from the station, it’s a different world. A small city, but London is within sight.

We passed an estate agent’s office. The postings reinforce the idea that Hampstead is a wealthy area. There was one listing for £12m, another for £5m.

Along the Highstreet, we pass an unexpected sight, a Friends of the Quakers meeting house.

Continuing down the Highstreet , we come to the beginning of the Heath, there’s a break in the tree line and we can see London in the far distance.

The Heath is a very large wooded area and although there are several attractions within the Heath, we planned to visit the Pergola. Down the road, then walking down a path that paralleled a high brick wall on one side and the deep woods on the other. After crossing over another road, there was a path to the Pergola.

The pergola is alongside an enormous mansion, Inverforth House. The pergola was likely once a part of the mansion’s grounds, which sits to the right of the fence. It appears the mansion residents have gated access to the Pergola, but definitely not the other way around.

Inverforth House was home to the Orthopaedic Society Hospital from the 1950s to the 1980s, and was converted into two houses and seven apartments in the late 1990s. This is an absolutely enormous property.

There are gravel paths down below with tended gardens and, this time of year, a lot of flowering plants and trees.

https://www.hampsteadheath.net/protecting-the-heath

Then we retrace our route back to the station and to London.